PSI Advisors LLC Sells 1,646 Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

PSI Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,145 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after selling 1,646 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VZ. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,376,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Verizon Communications by 9.7% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 202,521 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 17,855 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 1,934.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,080,015 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $48,503,000 after buying an additional 1,026,930 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,058,443 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $92,445,000 after buying an additional 57,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,273,082 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $4,548,163,000 after buying an additional 5,936,009 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ stock opened at $38.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36. The company has a market cap of $160.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.78.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $33.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6775 per share. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VZ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Raymond James boosted their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Verizon Communications in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.54.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).